Demanding that 68-year-old Atty. Gen William Barr turn over the full, unredacted Mueller Report to the House Intelligence Committee, 58-year-old Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) jumped on the bandwagon with his 71-year-old Democrat House colleague Rep. Jerold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Nadler slapped Barr with a Contempt of Congress citiation for refusing to turn over the full, unredacted report. Nadler claims Barr’s refusal to honor a Judiciary Committee subpoena creates a “constitutional crisis,” insisting that 72-year-old President Donald Trump illegally declared executive priviledge. But in his abuse of Congressional power, Nadler, and now Schiff, abuses his position to demand documents deemed illegal by the Department of Justice. Nadler and Schiff, both lawyers, know that Barr can’t violate criminal procedure or department rules related to compromising the privacy of grand jury information.
Since Mueller released his final report March 22 and Barr summarized it March 24, Democrats have tried to keep the investigation going. Barr said Mueller essentially acquitted Trump of any wrongdoing, the exact opposite Democrats’ wanted. Democrats expected Mueller to charge Trump with Russian collusion and obstruction of justice. When that didn’t happen, they’ve decided to place Trump in double-jeopardy, rejecting Mueller’s findings, opening up their own investigations. Democrats said they accepted Mueller’s findings up-until Barr cleared Trump on any wrongdoing. Trump decided to assert executive privilege yesterday to stop Congressional Democrats from pursuing an illegal investigation. Once Mueller finished his report March 22, Democrats knew the game was over. Barr announced that he was opening up an investigation into the origins of FBI counter-intelligence investigation: How, when and why the FBI investigated Trump.
Democrats countered Barr’s probe, deciding to reject Mueller’s findings because it didn’t match their political agenda. Rejecting Mueller’s findings is comparable to double-jeopardy, refusing to accept the Special Counsel’s conclusions. Democrats have made a big deal about a letter sent to Barr March 27, asking the Attorney General to provide more context than the March 24 four-page summary. Barr obliged Mueller’s request releasing the full, redacted report April 28. Schiff and Nadler can’t accept that Trump neither colluded with Russia nor obstructed justice. Keeping the Mueller investigation going follows a Democrat strategy heading into the 2020 election, damaging Trump’s credibility, unless the strategy boomerangs. Citing Barr for Contempt of Congress, Nadler hopes to promote the narrative that Trump continues to stonewall Congress. When you consider Mueller cleared Trump of collusion and obstruction, Democrats’ actions are especially egregious.
Once cleared by Mueller of collusion and obstruction, there was no underlying crime on which Democrats could accuse Trump of obstruction. Keeping the Mueller investigation going in Congress violates the Constitution’s double-jeopardy clause, preventing law enforcement from charging-and-trying a U.S. citizen twice. When you consider Mueller was the trier-of-fact, the Congress was obligated to accept his findings. Letting Nadler, Schiff and House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md) charge Trump twice for the same crimes is the real Constitutional crisis. Under Article 1, Congress has oversight responsibility, not the authority to abuse members of the executive branch. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) said there’s a Constitutional crisis because Barr refuses to turn to honor illegal subpoenas on criminal matter already litigated. Trump said enough-was-enough, when Democrats continued to harass the executive branch after Mueller delivered his verdict.
Nadler and Schiff have been some of the biggest anti-Trump partisans in Congress, looking for anything to justify impeachment. Pelosi said there’s a Constitutional crisis because Trump refuses to surrender his Article 2 powers, letting him make personnel decisions. Nadler, Schiff and Cummings have stretched the definition of obstruction of justice to the breaking point, suggesting that parts of the Muller Report show Trump considering firing Mueller. Barr determined that Trump’s behavior did not reach the legal threshold of obstruction of justice. But, if Nadler and Schiff want to know what constitutes obstruction of justice, they need to look no further than former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Hillary destroyed electronic files on her private server, including physically destroying 13 cell phones with hammers to prevent prosecutors from getting data. Hillary, not Trump, obstructed justice, but was cleared by former FBI Director James Comey.
Weaponizing Congressional committees to harass the executive branch violates Congressional oversight authority under Article 1. Pelosi wants to call a Constitutional crisis to give any excuse possible to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump. Mueller’s Report cleared Trump of any criminal wrongdoing, prompting Congress to put Trump in double-jeopardy, cherry picking the report’s findings to charge Trump with concocted crimes. When 800 former federal prosecutors said yesterday they’d prosecute Trump for obstruction of justice, it shows how utterly partisan things have become. Two weeks ago a group of anti-Trump psychiatrists diagnosed Trump as unfit for office. Facts are stubborn things. Mueller’s facts of a 22-month investigation cleared the president of criminal wrongdoing. Nadler, Schiff and Cummings can’t accept the findings because the Democrat Party counted on Trump’s guilt for the 2020 presidential election.
